Definition of anatomical position

The anatomic position It is the way in which the human body is located in space when each of its parts is described. It's a beginning basic study of the anatomy. The anatomical position emerged as a standardization which allowed that when describing the different parts of the body, its organs and systems, all anatomists spoke the same language.

Nowadays, the anatomical position is the parameter used to describe the findings on physical examination, during a surgery and even in imaging studies such as X-rays, MRIs, ultrasounds, tomography, arteriography, among others.

Description of the anatomical position

To proceed to describe the anatomy of any region, the following is taken as the anatomical position:

The human body is considered as if it were standing with outstretched arms and legs, head upright looking at the front, forearms turned with palms facing forward and feet next to each other resting on floor.

The body in this position is considered described by an observer located in front of it, who describe the structures using the body to be described as a reference and not the location of the observer.

Terminology used to establish relationships between the various structures of the body

From this location, a certain structure should be described, locating it spatially in relation to other structures according to the following terms:

Higher. What is found above.
Lower. What lies below.
Forward or ventral. What lies ahead.
Back or dorsal. What is located behind.
Cephalic or proximal. What is located in a position higher or closer to the head.
Caudal or distal. What is located in a lower position or closer to the feet.
Medial. What is closer to the midline.
Side. What is farthest from the midline.
Right. Located to the right of the body under study (observer's left).
Left. Located to the left of the body under study (observer's right)
Superficial. What is located closest to the surface of the body.
Deep. What is located closest to the interior of the body.
Homolateral or ipsilateral. What is located on the same side.
Contralateral. What is located on the opposite side.

This terminology is used consistently even if the body is standing, face up, face down or on its side.. For example, in a body placed on its back, the heart will always be in cephalic position or superior to stomach, the liver will always be lateral to the spine, the kidneys will always be inferior or caudal to the adrenal glands.

This is why it is called anatomical position, because Regardless of how the body is located in space, the findings will be described taking into consideration that the body is in an anatomical position., that is, standing up and as already described above.

Blueprints

When describing deep structures, it is possible to make imaginary cuts that allow access to the interior of the body. These cuts o blueprints they help establish their spatial relationships.

The plans used are the following:

Coronal plane. It is a plane that cuts the body into two parts on the longitudinal axis, dividing it into anterior and posterior.

Sagittal plane. This plane also cuts the body in two parts on the longitudinal axis, but perpendicular to the coronal plane, dividing it into right and left.

Transverse plane. This plane is perpendicular to the vertical axis of the body, it is made in the horizontal plane and divides the body into upper and lower.

These plans are widely used today in images obtained by studies such as tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. To the extent that these studies have a higher resolution, they allow making cuts that originate planes with millimeter intervals, which allows the identification of small lesions.

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